Parents are a huge part of their children’s education. Not only is the parent’s involvement important, but also it is the law. Part of No Child Left Behind is to increase parent involvement. This week, I did reading on collaboration and the main benefit to collaboration is that the teachers and the parents have the same goal. They understand how important the child’s education is and work together to identify problems, set goals, and try to understand that child’s individual learning needs. The parents know what is best for the child at home, so they can work together to put what is best into the school environment. The team works together to learn how the child is learning and then keep using that method to continue improvement.
With collaboration there needs to be respect between the parents and the teachers, so that if a problem arises then the they can work it out together before it explodes in to something bigger. It is the teachers job to make the parent feel included in their child’s education, and a way to do this is by letting them know what is going on in the classroom and how their child is progressing. It is also important for parents to be a partner in their child’s education because research shows that parent involvement increases a child’s test scores, attendance, and good behaviors. The parents also need to be involved outside of school.
When I went to an IEP meeting the teacher and the mom wanted something different for the student. The mom wanted the student to be in the general education classroom for every class, but the special education teacher thought the student would benefit from about 10 hours a week in the special education classroom. What would you do as a teacher to try to convince this parent that this might be the best way for the child to learn? Or would you go along with what the mom wanted? What would you do to make this collaboration work?
Wow, I didn't know that No Child Left Behind was also about getting parents involved! I mean, I probably should have known that, but I'm glad that's in there. I truly believe that when parents and teachers really work together you can do amazing things for the child in terms of development, improvement, and preparing them for success.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your questions about what you would do in a situation where parents and teachers disagree on what should happen I would hear why the parent thinks that would be best for the child, and then argue that I really think it would be better for the child if they did such-and-such. I would make it clear to the parent that we share the same goal, helping that child improve in areas necessary to be successful in the real world. If the parent still doesn't budge I would tell the parent that we can try it their way and monitor how the child does. I would also tell them that if we both see that improvement isn't being made then maybe we can try my idea. I hope that helps! Thanks for bringing up a very real world issue!
I actually didn't know that parent involement was part of No Child Left Behind but it is a great idea to stress. It is so important for parents to aware of their child at school. As for the issue at the IEP meeting, I think the parent's concerns need to be heard. But I also think that they also need to realize that the teacher has a lot of experience with such issues and will know how to best help the child at school. It is a sensitive issue though becuase no parent wants to be told how to handle their child, so you have to be careful how to resolve it. It is good to start thinking about these issues now because I am sure that we will have to deal with many more like them in the near future.
ReplyDeleteWow this is a tricky situation. It's hard because at the end of the day the parent will implement what they want with the child. In high school when I worked in a SXI classroom I saw a lot of situations similar to this. A parent may want the child mainstreamed all the time, but the teacher knows quite well what is best for the student, and total mainstreaming may not be the case.
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